Dems urge Trump to veto bill blocking online privacy rule

This June 19, 2015, file photo, shows the Federal Communications Commission building in Washington. Republicans in the House have followed the Senate in overturning an Obama-era broadband privacy regulation that set tough restrictions on what companies like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T could do with customers’ personal information. It still needs President Donald Trump’s signature. Consumer advocates and Democrats have slammed Republicans for gutting the Federal Communications Commission’s regulation, saying it will leave Americans online unprotected; Republicans and industry groups counter that spiking the rule just maintains the status quo.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File

NEW YORK — Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer is urging President Donald Trump to veto a resolution that would kill an online privacy regulation, a move that could allow internet providers to sell information about their customers' browsing habits.

The New York senator and 46 other Senate Democrats have signed a letter calling on Trump to "tell us whose side he's really on."

The Federal Communications Commission rule issued in October was designed to give consumers greater control over how internet service providers such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon share information. But critics say the rule would have stifled innovation and picked winners and losers among internet companies.

Schumer says if Trump signs the resolution, consumers "will be stripped of critical privacy protections in a New York minute."

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